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The Ancient Mediterranean World

From the Stone Age to A.D. 600

Robin W. Winks and Susan P. Mattern-Parkes

The Ancient Mediterranean World

From the Stone Age to A.D. 600

Robin W. Winks and Susan P. Mattern-Parkes

Description

What is a city, and what forms did urbanization take in different times and places? How do peoples and nations define themselves and perceive foreigners? Questions like these serve as the framework for The Ancient Mediterranean World: From the Stone Age to A.D. 600. This book provides a concise overview of the history of the Mediterranean world, from Paleolithic times through the rise of Islam in the seventh century A.D. It traces the origins of the civilizations around the Mediterranean--including ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Israel, Greece, and Rome--and their interactions over time. The Ancient Mediterranean World goes beyond political history to explore the lives of ordinary men and women and investigate topics such as the relationships between social classes, the dynamics of the family, the military and society, and aristocratic values. It introduces students not only to the ancient texts on which historians rely, but also to the art and architecture that reveal how people lived and how they understood ideas like love, death, and the body. Numerous illustrations, chronological charts, excerpts from ancient texts, and in-depth discussions of specific art objects and historical methods are included. Text boxes containing primary source materials examine such diverse subjects as warfare in early Mesopotamia, sculpting the body in classical Greece, the young women of Sappho's chorus, and early descriptions of the Huns. Combining excellent chronological coverage with a clear, concise narrative, The Ancient Mediterranean World is an ideal text for undergraduate courses in ancient history and ancient civilization.

The Ancient Mediterranean World

From the Stone Age to A.D. 600

Robin W. Winks and Susan P. Mattern-Parkes

Table of Contents

List of MapsList of Chronological TablesList of BoxesPreface: The Value of HistoryAcknowledgementsCHAPTER ONE: The First Civilizations What Is History?The Origins of CivilizationThe Archaeological Record--The First Modern Humans--The Beginnings of Agriculture--A New Complexity: Some Neolithic SitesThe First Civilizations: The Eastern Mediterranean in the Bronze AgeThe Bronze Age--Mesopotamian Civilization--Egypt in the Bronze Age--The Canaanites--The Hittites--The Agean--The Collapse of Bronze Age CivilizationIsrael and JudahMyth and History--The Hebrew Bible--Early Israel--The Monarchy and the Babylonian Exile--Society and Family--Religion and LawSummaryCHAPTER TWO:Greek Civilization: Hellas and Hellenism The Dark AgePopulation Decline and Dark Age Culture--Lefkandi--Homer and Oral PoetryThe Archaic Age: Hellas and the CityHellas--War and the City: The Rise of the Polis--Literature and Culture in Archaic HellasThe Classical Age: The Empire and Culture of AthensThe Persian Empire--The Persian Wars--Herodotus: The First History--Greeks and Barbarians--Democracy and Empire: Athens at Its Height--Culture in Imperial Athens--The Peloponnesian War--Athens after the War--Society in Classical AthensThe Hellenistic WorldThe Macedonian Conquerors--Greeks and Natives--Judaism in the Second Temple Period--Greek Culture in the Hellenistic PeriodSummaryCHAPTER THREE: TheRomans and Their Empire Roman OriginsWho Were the Romans?--From Village to City--The EtruscansGovernment and Society in the Early RepublicThe Ruling Class--Plebeians and Patricians--Society in the Twelve Tables--Warfare and the Conquest of Italy--Conquests Overseas--Imperialism and CultureThe Late Republic: Society in CrisisThe Aristocracy--Peasants: Gracchus' Land Reform--Slaves--The Knights: Provincial Government and Corruption--Soldiers: Marius' Military Reforms and Sulla's Dictatorship--Cicero and Roman Society--Pompey and Ceasar--The First EmperorThe EmpireThe Emperors--The Emperor and the City of Rome--The Army--Taxes--Roads and Cities--Law--Greek Culture in the Roman EmpireLife in the ProvincesImperial Rule: The Example of Judaea--The Army in Roman Britain--Society in Roman EgyptCrisis and Reform in the Third CenturyWars and Emperors--Economic Crisis--Diocletian and the Later Roman EmpireSummaryCHAPTER FOUR: Christianity and the Late Antique World PaganismThe Rise of ChristianityThe New Testament and the Gospels--Paul--Persecution and Martyrs--Bishops and TheologiansChristianity in the Later Roman EmpireThe Conversion of Constantine--Heresy and Schism--Monks and Ascetics--Christianity and Social Change--Literature: St. Augustine and the ClassicsThe Decline of the Western EmpireFranks--Visigoths--Ostrogoths--Vandals--Barbarian Legal Codes--JustinianMuhammad and the Rise of IslamSummarySuggested ReadingsIndex